Laurels Aftermath: All the dogs to watch after a fabulous night at Belle Vue

Sky Night Reaction / Jonathan Hobbs / 09 October 2008 / Leave a Comment

Jonathan Hobbs marks your future cards with the greyhounds who impressed on a wet night in Manchester.

The vibes at Belle Vue on Tuesday suggested that Boherna Best would be the Barrie Draper dog to beat in the Laurels final, and it proved right as this brilliant younger brother of Barnfield On Air strode majestically clear.

It opened up nicely for him in terms of kennelmate and favourite Boherna On Air and Prodigious both missing the break, but the winner showed great trackcraft to seize the moment and quickly get in slipstream behind his other kennelmate, Farley Magic.

To be fair, the second-placed dog ran a cracker in sloppy conditions and will remain tough to beat with his fantastic early speed. But while Category One events might just be hard to come by for him, another one for Boherna Best is certainly very possible.

He has now won two, at Monmore and Belle Vue, and it might have been three had he enjoyed a clearer run at Hall Green in the Gymcrack final. But the All England Cup is next on the agenda and he goes there as favourite in my book.

Whether it is Newcastle or elsewhere, follow Windy Millar wherever he goes.
It was a cracking second run in this country behind the top-notch Tyrur Hestor. Both dogs showed a lot of pace and the winner handled the conditions just that much better. He, of course, looks a Derby contender next year.

It is a shame there are not too many hurdles competitions around just now, because Jumbos Cool would be an ante-post play. He showed great pace in comfortably leading his fellow jumpers on Tuesday, and that after coming away none too well.
Admittedly caught by Sawpit Samurai, that was no disgrace given the winner is in the form of his life and relishes the challenge up ahead. Plus, the conditions were getting testing by this time, the torrential rain certainly taxing stamina.

The conditions didn't seem to suit those inside either, especially from mid-meeting onwards, so Maltese Force's close-up second to Thai Girl is all that more meritorious.

Bubbly Totti (pictured, trading at [9.0] for the St Leger) looked very impressive in winning the six-bend event, as did outsider Hillcross Legend, and the winner has got to be a very possible winner of the St Leger.
Iceman Ross was arguably the most impressive winner of the night, winning the closing veterans' race. He will be difficult to beat in seniors' races for sure, but even put back into all-aged company next time he could be tough to hold.

* It looks good for Droopys Quinta and Crown Rover at Sunderland. Both came through tough tests in inclement conditions and have avoided each other in their semi-finals on Saturday.
But the performance of note might just be Romeo Del Piero. He took an age to warm up in the rain before really motoring and, while he can ill-afford such tactics in the semis, a fast sprint win at Coventry gives hope that he can go to halfway a lot quicker.